Long Way Down in Mock Printz 2026

Jan 16, 2018 The Reading Countess rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ebook, ya, poetry, award-winners, social-justice

Pitch perfect voice. Beautifully paced. Imaginative, thoughtful verse. Reluctant readers and voracious readers alike will gobble this one up, like I did. I'd love a tour of Jason Reynolds' mind. And that ending...seriously?! ...more

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Mar 01, 2018 Jessica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018

I was wondering how this book could straddle the line to be both a Newbery and a Printz Honor, and I totally get it now.

This is a book for everyone. Holy cow.

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Feb 03, 2018 Terri rated it it was amazing

Extra...ordinary!

Is there anything that Jason Reynolds can't do - in terms of genre, intended audience, style, topic/issue? Anything? Nope. Everything Reynolds does is extra...ordinary, "Long Way Down" included.

Will's story is told in first person verse. EVERY single word is perfection, as are the graphics, the chapter headings, the characterizations, the use of time and place, the issues explored...The novel begins with Will witnessing the murder of his older brother, Shawn. He contemplates the Extra...ordinary!

Is there anything that Jason Reynolds can't do - in terms of genre, intended audience, style, topic/issue? Anything? Nope. Everything Reynolds does is extra...ordinary, "Long Way Down" included.

Will's story is told in first person verse. EVERY single word is perfection, as are the graphics, the chapter headings, the characterizations, the use of time and place, the issues explored...The novel begins with Will witnessing the murder of his older brother, Shawn. He contemplates the rules he has known all his life - don't cry, don't snitch, and do get revenge - as he hops on the elevator, gun tucked in his pants, to faithfully follow the those rules. The final 230 pages of the book take place in one minute as he "takes the long way down" on the elevator, headed out to revenge his brother's death. The story and character arc that take place in that one minute are nothing short of remarkable. To the very last page, the book is brilliant.

There were several times where I gasped out loud at the profound impact Reynold's words had on me. Page 5: "...if the blood / inside you is on the inside / of someone else, / you never want to see it on the outside of / them." The use and teaching of the concept of anagrams, beginning on pages 36-7: "ANAGRAM / is when you take a word / and rearrange the letters / to make another word. / / and sometimes the words / are still somehow connected / ex: CANOE = OCEAN. / Same letters, / different words, / somehow still make / sense together, / like brothers." Page 43: "People always love people more when they're dead." Page 119: "PLUS / it's hard to think of kissing and killing / at the same time." Page: 163: "UNCLE MARK PULLED ME IN / for a hug, / but how you / hug what's haunting you?" Page 174: "The Rules / have always ruled. / Past present future forever." And the last page, the last page...

I kept thinking of Sir Walter Scott's quote, "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive." The issue of revenge killing is indeed a tangled web, and innocents are entrapped and lost in its silken fibers.

Highly, highly recommended for middle school and up! "Long Way Down" appears on nearly every 2017 "best" list, has earned at least six starred reviews, and has won several awards already - and most deservedly so. This novel would make a great classroom read as well, one that would promote lively discussion. ...more

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Apr 13, 2018 Lisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, poetry-short-story-collections, award-winners

This book reads as a play and I love those kind of books best. The entire novel-in-verse takes place during one single minute of one single elevator ride as the main character contemplates a life-and-death decision. It's a short, powerful read. And wow, it literally gave me chills. The audiobook was read by Jason Reynolds and hearing him read his own words aloud--the rhythm of them, the pace of them--really added a special layer to the story. Be sure to listen to the post-credits interview with ...more

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May 11, 2018 Jenni rated it it was amazing

This is a book written in poem style that tells the story of a young man who is determined to follow the rules of the street. 1. Don't cry 2. Don't Snitch 3. Get revenge. However, when he is in the elevator on the way down from his apartment with a gun he meets all of the people in his life that he has lost to the rules of the street. What will he do? ...more

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Apr 03, 2020 Courtney rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, 2020

Whoa. This book is a ride. Like Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol”, Will is visited by ghosts, only Will gets 6 of them. One ghost for each floor in his apartment building as he goes to kill the person he thinks shot and killed his older brother. Each ghost is the victim of gun violence themselves from his uncle to a childhood friend. This is completely written in verse and so quick to read.

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